People
sometimes obsess over the potential threat posed by terrorist attacks that use
things such as chemical weapons, electromagnetic pulses or dirty bombs. Yet
they tend to discount the less exciting but very real threat posed by fire,
even though fire kills thousands of people every year. The World Health
Organization estimates that 195,000 people die each year from fire, while
according to the Global Terrorism Database an average of 7,258 people die
annually from terrorism, and that includes deaths in conflict zones such as
Afghanistan and Iraq.
There are also instances in which fire is used
as a weapon in a terrorist attack. U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and
embassy communications officer Sean Smith, the two diplomats killed in the
attack on the U.S. office in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, did not die from
gunfire or even rocket-propelled grenade strikes but from smoke inhalation.
This fact was not lost on the U.S. Department of State Accountability Review
Board that investigated the Benghazi attack. In an interview published by
Reuters on Feb. 24, former Ambassador Thomas Pickering, the head of the
Accountability Review Board, said more attention should be paid to the threat
fire poses to diplomatic posts.
Fire can be deadly and destructive. But
whether a fire is intentionally set, as in the Benghazi example above, or is
the result of an accident or negligence, there are some practical steps
individuals can take to protect themselves.
Fire as a
Weapon
The use of fire as a weapon, especially
against diplomatic facilities, is not new. It was seen in the November 1979
sacking and burning of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, and in the
April 1988 mob and arson attack against the U.S. Embassy annex in Tegucigalpa,
Honduras. In February 2008, the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, was heavily
damaged when a mob lit its lobby on fire. More recently, on Sept. 14, 2012,
three days after the Benghazi attack, millions of dollars' worth of damage was
done at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, after a mob set outbuildings and
vehicles ablaze. Fires set by demonstrators also caused extensive damage to the
adjacent American school.
Fire has been used to attack non-diplomatic
facilities as well. During the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, the group of
attackers holed up in the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel started fires in various parts
of the hotel. Anarchists and radical environmental and animal rights activists
have also conducted arson attacks against a variety of targets, including
banks, department stores, the homes and vehicles of research scientists and
even a ski resort.
Fire has
also been a weapon frequently mentioned by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in
its longstanding efforts to encourage Muslims living in the West to conduct
simple attacks. In an interview featured in the first edition of Inspire
magazine, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader Nasir al-Wahayshi encouraged
would-be jihadists to burn down forests and buildings as a way to strike terror
into the hearts of their adversaries. This theme was expanded upon in Inspire
magazine's ninth edition, which actually contained a photo tutorial on how to
construct timed incendiary devices as well as a fatwa noting that it was
religiously permissible to light forest fires as an act of war. It is suspected
that Palestinian groups have also been responsible for a number of fires in
Israel and the West Bank.
But fire is
not a weapon to be used against only buildings and forests -- it can also be
used to attack transportation targets. In March 2008, a Uighur separatist
attempted to light a fire in the restroom of a China Southern Airlines flight
from Urumqi to Beijing using two soft drink cans filled with gasoline that she
had smuggled onto the flight. Fire is extremely dangerous aboard aircraft
because of the oxygen-rich environment, the sensitive nature of avionic controls,
the presence of thousands of gallons of jet fuel and the toxic smoke that
results from burning plastics and other materials that make up a plane.
Examples of deadly fires aboard aircraft include the September 1998 incident
involving Swissair Flight 111, in which all 229 people aboard were killed after
the crew was overcome by smoke, and the May 1996 ValuJet crash in the Florida
Everglades. In a case similar to the one at hand, a June 1983 fire that started
in the restroom of Air Canada Flight 797 resulted in the deaths of 23 of the 46
passengers on board. Autopsies showed that most of them died as a result of
smoke inhalation.
Trains have
also been targeted for arson. In August 2006, an attack against two German
trains failed when the timed incendiary devices placed onboard failed to
ignite. A February 2007 attack against a train in India proved far more deadly.
Two timed incendiary devices placed aboard the Samjhauta Express killed 68
people and injured another 50. Two additional unignited devices were later
found in other cars aboard the train. Had they functioned properly, the death
toll would have been much higher.
Incendiary
devices are not only quite deadly if properly employed, they also have an
advantage over explosive devices in that they can be constructed from readily
available materials such as gasoline and kerosene. Even the aluminum powder and
iron oxide required to manufacture a more advanced incendiary compound such as
thermite can be easily obtained or even produced at home.
Another
consideration is that quite often other forms of attacks, such as those using
explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades or even tracer ammunition, can
spark fires. Many of the victims of the July 7, 2005, London subway bombings
were affected not by the bombs' blast effect but by the smoke from the
resultant fires.
Precautions
In addition
to the threat of fire as a weapon or resulting from another form of attack,
many deadly fires result each year from accidents or negligence. Such fires are
deadly enough in the United States and Europe, where there are strict fire
codes, but their impact is often magnified in less-developed countries, where
fire codes are nonexistent or poorly enforced. For example, while sprinkler
systems are mandatory for hotels in the United States, in many parts of the
world they are not required.
When I was
working on protective details overseas, I learned that it is not uncommon to
find items stored in emergency stairwells, leaving them obstructed or sometimes
impassable. It is also not unusual to find fire doors that have been chained
shut due to the criminal threat.
One thing
that can be done to mitigate the threat from fire is to check emergency exits
to ensure that they are passable. This applies not only to hotels but also to
apartment and even office buildings. In the August 2011 Casino Royale attack in
Monterrey, Mexico, the attackers ordered the occupants out of the building
before dousing it with gasoline and lighting it on fire, but 52 people died in
the incident because they were trapped inside a building by a fire exit that
had been chained and locked shut.
While we
recommend that travelers staying at hotels overseas should attempt to stay
above the second floor for security reasons, we also recommend that they not
stay above the sixth floor so that they will be within range of most fire
department rescue ladders. We also recommend checking that functional and
tested fire extinguishers and fire hoses are present.
In fires,
smoke inhalation is a huge problem. According to studies, it is the primary
cause of fire deaths and accounts for some 50-80 percent of all deaths from
indoor fires. While this is somewhat obvious in confined spaces such as an
aircraft fuselage or a subway tunnel, it also applies to buildings. Even
buildings that are constructed of concrete or cinderblock and would therefore
seem to be resistant to the effects of fire can serve to confine smoke to
deadly levels. The U.S. office in Benghazi is a very good recent example. Video
of the building after the attack showed that the fire had not badly damaged the
building's structure itself; what killed Stevens and Smith was the smoke.
As Stratfor
has noted for many years now, smoke hoods are a very important piece of safety
equipment and should be part of everyone's personal safety plan. Smoke hoods
can be carried in a purse or briefcase and can provide the wearer with 15-30
minutes of safe air to breathe. This period of time can make a world of
difference to a person caught in a burning building, subway tunnel or aircraft
and attempting to escape to fresh air.
Due to past
fire incidents on aircraft, the Federal Aviation Administration mandates that
airlines furnish a smoke hood for each crew member on commercial flights. They
do not provide smoke hoods for each passenger, although high-end executive
aircraft normally do. Commercial passengers who would like access to a smoke
hood in the case of a fire need to carry their own. Another useful tool in such
situations is a small, high-intensity flashlight that can help you find your
way through the smoke or dark once you have donned your smoke hood.
Fire is a
potentially deadly weapon, one that should not be forgotten, but steps can be
taken to mitigate the danger it poses.
Font: Scott
Stewart
"Fire:
The Overlooked Threat is republished with permission of Stratfor."
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